A SOUNDTRACK THAT SOARS, BUT THE STORY NEVER QUITE FINDS ITS RHYTHM

By Tanya Howard | Founder, The Live Review London · @glamglitzlondon ⭐⭐⭐ | Press Invite

There’s always a little extra excitement when you go into a musical knowing you’re already going to love the soundtrack. My Mum is a Chaka Khan super fan, so when the invite came through for I’m Every Woman, it felt like the perfect excuse for a mother-daughter theatre trip. I expected a night celebrating an extraordinary career, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the success I had hoped for. With a catalogue of iconic songs, an incredible life story and a cast packed with powerhouse vocalists, where did it fall short for me?

I’ll be honest, this was a tricky review to write. The press night was unusually chaotic, with the performance starting around 40 minutes late. Add to that, repeated interruptions from additional latecomers, the distracting light from letting them in, workers constantly on their phones, and my Mum having to leave before the end to catch her train. We’d accounted for a late buffer, but not that long. I’ve tried to separate those frustrations from the show, but I’d be lying if I said they didn’t have some impact on my overall experience.

IF YOU’RE COMING FOR THE SONGS, YOU WON’T LEAVE DISAPPOINTED

Now, putting all that aside as much as I can… One thing this production gets absolutely right is the music. Chaka Khan has an incredible catalogue of songs and props to my Mum for holding back and not singing along to each one. The vocals on stage were amazing, and each of the cast got their moment to shine. Ashley Stroud as Taka Boom was one of my personal standouts, Sophie Earl was brilliant as Joni Mitchell, and Chrissie Bhima as Marie Stevens commanded the stage.

And talking of the stage, that deserves a mention too. It’s not the largest stage and yet they managed to transport the audience to a lot of locations. (something about sliding doors do a lot to manoeuvre between scenes without being clunky) (something about visual effects adding to it, also warning about stroke lighting). Although, it was let down by the surrounding stage lights which were visibly blinding multiple times.

A STORY THAT STARTED LOSING ME ALONG THE WAY

Where the show lost me was the storytelling. I liked that they tackled some difficult parts of Chaka Khan’s life: addiction, racism, sexism and more. And I respect that it would’ve been very easy to produce a musical that only focused on the glamorous moments. The problem was that it felt like the balance tipped a little too far at times. I wanted to learn more about Chaka Khan, but I found myself wanting more of… well… everything else.

There was also a huge amount of celebrity name-dropping throughout. I completely understand why those people were featured because they all played a role in different parts of her career, but some scenes lingered longer than they really needed to. After a while, it almost started feeling like, “Look who else Chaka Khan knew!” rather than pushing the story forward.

I also really struggled to keep track of the timeline. We’d suddenly move into a new scene with no reference to time, day, year. Had we jumped five years forward, ten, or was it just a couple of months? It’s hard to keep track when you are playing catch up whilst it plays out before you. There were even points where it took a while to work out who a character was. Unless you’re already really familiar with Chaka Khan’s life, it’s very easy to get lost.

THE CAST DESERVED A STORY AS STRONG AS THEIR VOCALS

There’s a reveal towards the end that I won’t spoil because it’s one of the more interesting parts of the production. But it genuinely had me sitting up thinking, “Ooooh… now this is interesting.” The only problem is that it arrived so late. And there’s also a compelling emotional thread running through the second half, but again it comes in too late. It felt rushed, and I left wishing they’d explored it earlier.

I really wanted to love this musical; I mean all the ingredients are there. Chaka Khan’s music is iconic, the cast are talented, and vocally the production is fantastic. Hearing those songs performed live was worth it for that alone, and the cast deserve so much credit because they gave absolutely everything. But the storytelling never quite matched the quality of the music. I came away thinking there was a more powerful musical hiding underneath the one I’d just watched.

I’m Every Woman – The Chaka Khan Musical running at Troubadour Wembley Park until 27 September

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Photo Credit: Danny Kaan